7 Elements of Music

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Transcript of 7 Elements of Music

7 Elementsof MusicRhythm- The duration of sound (how long or short the notes are)- Rhythm has three parts:- Beat- Tempo- MetreBeatThe Pulse. A rhythmic unit of time.Rhythm VS BeatListen to the following example:- When you nod your head or tap your foot in time with the music you are feeling the beat.

- When you sing along with the lyrics, you are singing the rhythm as each word is held for a different length of time.

I read the rules before I broke 'em I broke the chains before they choked me out Now I pay close attention Really learn the code I learned to read the map before I hit the roadTempoThe speed of the beat. How fast or slow the music is.Click on the link below to visit the San Francisco Symphony’s “Music Lab” website to explore music played at various tempos.

http://www.sfskids.org/templates/musicLabF.asp?pageid=11MetreThe organization of strong and weak beats. Indicated by measures and time signature.Simple TimeListen to the song clips below and try to count or conduct along.Compound TimeSimple Time24- Equivalent of 2 quarter notes per bar- Often used for polkas or marchesSimple Time34- Equivalent of 3 quarter notes per bar- Used for waltzesSimple Time44- Equivalent of 4 quarter notes per bar- Also known as "common time" it is the most frequently used time signature and often used for popular musicSimple Time54- Equivalent of 5 quarter notes per bar- Highly unusual/uncommon- Uneven division of beats inSimple Time22- Equivalent of 2 half notes per bar- Often used for marchesCompound Time68- Equivalent of 6 eighth notes per bar- Often used in country musicCompound Time98- Equivalent of 9 eighth notes per bar- Similar to 3/4 (waltz) timeCompound Time128- Equivalent of 12 eighth notes per bar- Common in flamenco music*Start at 35 secondsChanging Metres4 24 4- Listen closely to this example, the time signature switches from 4/4 to 2/4 and back againMelody- The tune; an organized sequence of pitches- There are two kinds of melody:- Conjunct- DisjunctConjunctSingable, stepwiseListen to the following exampleThe melody is easy to sing, if you play this on the piano, all the notes are right next to one another (no leaps or skips).DisjunctLarge leaps and jumps, difficult to singListen to the following exampleThe melody is not easy to sing, if you play this on the piano, the notes are not right next to one another, there are large leaps or skips in between.Harmony- The combination of two or more pitches- There are two types of harmony:- Consonance- DissonanceChords / TriadsCombination of three or more pitches.ConsonanceCombination of two or more pitches which are harmoniously pleasing and require no resolution. (They sound nice/ pleasant).Listen to the following exampleDissonanceCombination of two or more pitches which are not harmoniously pleasing and require a resolution. (They don’t sound nice/ pleasant).Listen to the following exampleTimbre- Tone colour/ tone qualityTimbreListen to the examples of Happy Birthday played on different instruments to hear how the same melody can have a different timbre.Timbre describes all of the aspects of a musical sound that do not have anything to do with the sound's pitch, loudness, or length. In other words, if a flute plays a note, and then an oboe plays the same note, for the same length of time, at the same loudness, you can still easily distinguish between the two sounds, because a flute sounds different from an oboe. This difference is in the timbre of the sounds.Different TimbresPianoDifferent TimbresGuitarDifferent TimbresJazz TrumpetDifferent TimbresFluteDifferent TimbresCelloDifferent TimbresVocalForm- The structure of music- Music comes in many different forms. Some include:- Binary- Ternary- Theme & Variation- Popular SongBinary FormA-B scheme (each section may be repeated)Listen to God Save the Queen and follow along with either the music or the lyrics, note the A and B sections.Ternary FormA-B-A SchemeListen to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and follow along with either the music or the lyrics, note the A section is at both the beginning and the end.Theme & VariationPrincipal theme is clearly stated at the beginning and goes through a series of variations over the rest of the piece.Click on the link below to open up a short presentation on Theme & Variation. It is especially important that you listen to the theme and all five of the examples on slide #4.

http://www.erikscull.com/_assets/flash/variationswcopland.swf Popular Song- Several different forms often:- A-A-B-A (Where B is often the bridge)- Verse-Chorus-Verse-Chorus-Bridge-ChorusListen to Fallin' and follow along with the lyrics. Note that the chorus repeats additional times at the end.Texture- Overall quality of sound of a piece, most often indicated by the number of voices in the music and by the relationship between these voices.- There are three types of texture- Monophonic- Homophonic- PolyphonicMonophonicListen to the following monophonic example.HomophonicSingle melody with chordal accompaniment (two voices). Common of church hymns.Listen to the following homophonic example.Polyphonic- Two or more melodies at the same time.Listen to the following polyphonic exampleSingle melody, no accompaniment (unison).Dynamics- The volume of the sound (how loud or soft the music is)Dynamic ChangesListen to the 2nd movement of Haydn’s “Surprise” Symphony (No. 94) to hear the differences in dynamics. The pieces starts quietly (piano), then gets suddenly loud (sforzando), then stays at a moderately loud dynamic (mezzo forte)The beat of a piece of music can be broken down into two-part rhythms. Simple time signatures are the easiest to count, because a one-two pulse in a piece of music feels the most natural to a listener and a performer.The beat is broken down into three-part rhythms. The top number is evenly divisible by 3, with the exception of time signatures where the top number is 3. Also, each beat is divided into three components, creating a one-two-three pulse